Dear Democracy Now! visitor,

You turn to Democracy Now! for ad-free news you can trust. Maybe you come for our daily headlines. Maybe you come for in-depth stories that expose corporate and government abuses of power. Democracy Now! brings you crucial reporting like our coverage from the front lines of the standoff at Standing Rock or news about the movements fighting for peace, racial and economic justice, immigrant rights and LGBTQ equality. We produce our daily news hour at a fraction of the budget of a commercial news operation—all without ads, government funding or corporate sponsorship. How is this possible? Only with your support. If every visitor to this site in December gave just $10 we could cover our basic operating costs for 2017. Pretty exciting, right? So, if you've been waiting to make your contribution to Democracy Now!, today is your day. It takes just a couple of minutes to make sure that Democracy Now! is there for you and everybody else in 2017.

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

HeadlinesOctober 25, 2004

U.S. Failed To Secure 380 Tons of Explosives in Iraq

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The New York Times is reporting that 380 tons of powerful explosives were looted from a former military installation in Iraq shortly after the U.S. invasion. The explosives vanished at a time that the site was supposed to have been secured by U.S. forces. The missing explosives, HMX and RDX, are strong enough to shatter airplanes and tear apart buildings. The Nelson Report quotes unnamed U.S. officials who say the explosives have since been used to attack U.S. forces. One official said "this is the stuff the bad guys have been using to kill our troops." The explosives could also be used to trigger a nuclear weapon. Bush administration officials have not been able to explain why the explosives were not safeguarded. According to the Times, the International Atomic Energy Agency publicly warned about the danger of the explosives before the war, and had specifically told U.S. officials about the need to keep the explosives secured. Two months after the U.S. invasion, an internal I.A.E.A. memorandum warned that whoever seized the material might be helping "themselves to the greatest explosives bonanza in history." The U.S. has never publicly admittedly the explosives had gone missing but officials admitted it happened when questioned by the Times. The Nelson Report newsletter is also reporting the U.S. pressured Iraqis not to report the missing explosives to the United Nations.

48 Iraqi Army Recruits Massacred
In other Iraq news, nearly 50 Iraqi army recruits were massacred this weekend near the Iranian border Many of the recruits had been shot in the head in the deadliest ambush to date by Iraqi resistance fighters. The recruits had been killed shortly after completing three weeks of basic training. They were unarmed at the time. They were traveling on three buses in a remote area when they were ambushed at a fake checkpoint. The recruits were ordered out of the busses and then executed. Iraqi security officials are now saying inside information about the recruits’ travel plans was likely supplied to the attackers by someone inside the Iraqi forces.

22 Iraqi Police Officers Die in Suicide Car Bombings

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The bodies of the recruits were found a day after a pair of suicide car bombings killed 22 Iraqi police officers and wounded over 40 others.

Report: Resistance Attacks Up By 25% Since Ramadan

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The Guardian of London reports attacks by the Iraqi resistance have increased by 25 percent since the start of Ramadan.

First U.S. Diplomat Killed in Iraq

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

Meanwhile a U.S. diplomat was killed in a mortar attack on Sunday. Ed Seitz is believed to be the first state department employee killed in Iraq.

Sadr Expresses Support For Sunni Resistance in Fallujah

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The U.S. bombing of Fallujah continues. At least six Iraqis died in the Sunni city over the weekend. And Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr has voiced his support for the resistance fighters in Fallujah. He said in a statement "I am ready to provide a helping hand for you, my mujahedin brothers in Fallujah."

Kidnapped Humanitarian Worker Pleas For Her Life

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

Margaret Hassan, the head of the humanitarian group CARE International, remains in captivity five days after she was kidnapped. On Friday Al Jazeera aired a video of Hassan where she pleads for her release.

800 Ex-GIs Refuse to Report To Duty
The U.S. Army has now admitted that more than 800 former soldiers have failed to comply with orders to report back to duty to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan. All of the soldiers are on what is known as the Individual Ready Reserve.

Ex-Soldier Sues U.S. Gov't Over Redeployment Orders

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

In New York, one former soldier, Army Captain Jay Ferriola, sued the government to block his pending deployment to Iraq. Ferriola resigned from the military in June after completing eight years of service but last week he received orders to report back to active duty and serve an 18-month mission in Iraq. We’ll speak to his attorney later in the program.

CIA Defies Geneva Convention In Treatment of Iraqi Detainees

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The Washington Post is reporting the CIA has been secretly transporting as many as a dozen Iraqi detainees out of the country in apparent violation of the Geneva Conventions. The detainees have been kept hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross and other authorities. In March the Justice Department issued a confidential memo that authorized the CIA to transfer detainees out of Iraq for interrogations.

Army Set To Allow Halliburton To Keep Disputed Money

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The Wall Street Journal has obtained internal Pentagon documents that show the Army is preparing to allow Halliburton to keep several billion dollars for work done in Iraq even though the company can’t document how the money was spent. According to the report, Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root has so far billed about $12 billion in Iraq, and about $3 billion of that remains disputed by government officials. Meanwhile the Army has agreed to a Pentagon investigation into claims by a top contracting official that a Halliburton subsidiary unfairly won no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars for work in Iraq and the Balkans. The chief contracting officer of the Army Corps of Engineers, Bunnatine Greenhouse, said in a letter the Halliburton deals put at risk "the integrity of the federal contracting program as it relates to a major defense contractor." Attorneys for Greenhouse are now seeking whistleblower status for the Army employee.

GOP To Send 3,600 'Monitors' To Challenge Right to Vote in Ohio

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

In election news, Republican officials in Ohio have formalized plans to send thousands of paid recruits to go to polling places on Election Day to challenge the qualifications of voters in heavily Democratic urban areas. This according to a report in the New York Times. Republicans have registered 3,600 election monitors in Ohio each of whom will be paid $100 to work on election day. The Democrats have registered about 2,000 monitors. Already the Republicans have challenged the voting eligibility of 35,000 registered voters in Ohio.

Nader Suffers Ballot Setback in Ohio and Penn.

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

In other election news, it appears Ralph Nader’s name will not appear on ballots in either Ohio or Pennsylvania. On Friday, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected an effort by Nader for his name to appear on the state’s ballot. And on Saturday the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Pennsylvania state court ruling to keep Nader off that state’s ballot.

Newspapers Endorse Kerry Over Bush

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The magazine Editor and Publisher is reporting Senator John Kerry has now won the endorsement of 122 newspapers — 53 more than President Bush. At least 33 papers that endorsed Bush four years ago have opted not to endorse him this year. Several newspapers including the Tampa Tribune and Detroit News have opted to endorse neither Bush nor Kerry. The headline in the Time Picayune of New Orleans read "No One To Champion." Over the weekend Kerry won the endorsement of The Washington Post and the Orlando Sentinel, which gave him a sweep of major papers in Florida. Meanwhile Bush won the much coveted endorsement of the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio.

Bush Signs $136 Billion Corporate Tax Bill

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

On Friday, President Bush quietly signed a bill giving corporations $136 billion in tax breaks. No signing ceremony was held at the White House. The bill marks the most sweeping reworking of corporate tax law in nearly two decades.

Israel Launches New Attack in Gaza, Kill 14 Palestinians

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

In Gaza, Israel has launched a major new offensive killing as many as 14 Palestinians overnight in the town of Khan Yunis. Dozens were injured. The raid came hours the Israeli cabinet approved details of a plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from Gaza next year. The plan will now go before the Knesset today. Meanwhile the United Nations is now estimating that 200 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have died over the past month making it one of the deadliest months of the intifada.

Karzai Set to Election in Afghanistan

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

In Afghanistan, the U.S.-backed Hamid Karzai appears set to win the country’s presidential election. With 94 percent of the vote counted, election officials say Karzai has won more than 55 percent of the vote. Despite initial protests, his main rivals have conceded to Karzai. On the day of the election over a dozen of Karzai’s opponents called for a boycott of the election due to voting problems.

ACLU sues FBI After Agency Interviews 13,000 Muslims

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the FBI to get more information about the agency’s questioning of thousands of Muslims ahead of this year’s elections. The FBI has admitted it has conducted 13,000 so-called voluntary interviews this year as part of an effort to disrupt any election-year attacks. The ACLU is seeking information under the Freedom of Information Act to find out how the FBI chooses who it subjects to interviews.

Jimmy Carter: Bush Exploited 9/11

HeadlinesOct 25, 2004

And in an interview with the Guardian of London, former president Jimmy Carter has accused President Bush of exploiting 9/11 and abandoning efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons. Carter also criticized the media for its handling of the Bush administration. He said, "The press have been cowed, because they didn’t want to be unpatriotic. There has been a lack of inquisitive journalism. In fact, it’s hard to think of a major medium in the United States that has been objective and fair and balanced, and critical when criticism was deserved."

Non-commercial news needs your support

independent global news

Democracy Now! is a 501(c)3 non-profit news organization. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work. Please do your part today.